Team 7: The Rescue Mission
by mollycoddle
Summary: - "Natsume left. He left us, Sakura-sensei." /Implied NatsumexMikan


I don't own Naruto or Gakuen Alice.

Side note: Sakura does not love Sasuke anymore

Characters: Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke - original Team 7 Mikan, Ruka, Natsume - new Team 7

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**.:Team 7:.  
** "_Don't you believe me? The Hokage and I had a teammate. He left. We never got him back."_

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"He left!"

Sakura's heart stopped for a second, her eyes wide and her fingers clenched in a fist. "What do you mean he left, Mikan?" she finally asked, patiently.

"Natsume _left_!" Tears streaked down her red cheeks. "Sakura-sensei—he _left_ us!" Yukihara Mikan, twelve-years-old, Genin, and Sakura's student. Knows med-nin healing, but nothing too much. Normal chakra control. Excellent dodger, known for being able to erase memories and insert different ones—gifts from the Yukihara clan.

"Mikan, tell me: How did Natsume leave?"

Her tears stopped for a second, as she raised her head. She was shocked, that much Sakura could tell—after all, she wasn't expecting her to understand so quickly. "He left," she said quietly. "I had a feeling, and when I woke up I went to the path out of Konoha. He was there a few minutes later. I-I tried to get him back, swearing everything I knew I could do. I-I promised him. A-and he…knocked me out."

"Did he tell you thank you, and leave you on a bench?" Sakura asked, her voice wavering ever so slightly. _You're annoying. Thank you._

"...Yes." Mikan watched her sensei, not knowing how she knew.

"Get the Hokage, Mikan. Explain the situation, and report to—"

"Ruka went after him."

Sakura closed her eyes. "Report to the Hokage."

_"What do YOU know about a teammate leaving you Sakura-sensei? You never ever had something as painful as that! You'll never understand what Ruka and I'm going though!"_

_-_Slap_-_

_"Don't you dare talk like that."_

Uzumaki Naruto watched Ruka's labored breathing as Mikan fell asleep and Sakura healed the blond twerp. "I wonder why," he finally said.

"…She said she loved him. And he left. Her. On a bench. I don't love Sasuke anymore Naruto, but he's still my family." Sakura quickly wiped away a stray tear and went back to Ruka. "Ruka went after him," she whispered. Nogi Ruka: twelve-years-old, Genin, Sakura's student. Good chakra control, specialty ninjutsu. Of the Nogi clan—amazing with animals, and able to understand/talk to them. "And…he came back like this."

"History is repeating itself. Imagine my shock when she tore into my room, ignoring the Council, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Neji…She, well, looked at me with those eyes. 'Natsume became a missing-nin,' she shouted. 'He left.' I could feel _their_ eyes on me, as I realized…this Team 7 is tearing apart too. We're nineteen, Sakura-chan. I'm Hokage, you're the best med-nin in the world. And he killed Orochimaru, Itachi…everyone he wanted. And no matter how happy I feel, there's the darkness in me too."

"They're young Naruto. He left, and they're breaking, but they're not yet _broken_."

"…Rescue mission?"

"He was my student. I loved him, and I know he saw me as a mother and a sister and an aunt, and everything in between. And I know he loved Mikan. I don't think she knew she loved him until he left, though. But Naruto…by the time they're nineteen, he's going to be here. He's never going to leave again. I vow, with my life, we will get Natsume back. I don't need any extra teams. Just us."

"…I'll make it official tomorrow. But I'm coming with you."

_ "But it's true! You never had to—"_

_"He left."_

_"…W-wha'?"_

_"Uchiha Sasuke…my former teammate…left. Me on a bench. After I told him I loved him."_

The next time Haruno Sakura saw her student Hyuuga Natsume, she hugged him. He was in the Hyuuga clan, his eyes while red and black, still possesses the Hyuuga bloodline. Hyuuga Natsume: twelve-years-old, Genin, on Sakura's team. Good chakra control: specialty ninjutsu. Controls fire.

"Sensei," he greeted her, his voice so flat her heart hurt. "Please get off me."

She unwrapped her arms, her eyes glistening. "Hyuuga Natsume, we _will_ take you back."

The fight began.

_"…Sensei?"_

_"Yes, Ruka? Don't you believe me? The Hokage and I had a teammate. He left. We never got him back."_

During the fight with him, both Naruto and Sakura backtracked. They were about to—

"Naruto. Sakura."

Their blood went cold.

"Sasuke."

_"…But I promise we will get back Natsume. Because our pain is so much worse than yours. How do you think it feels like, to lose him again and again? To go after him, but fail?"_

**_The Konoha Journal_**

**_Today at exactly five am when the market was busy with activity on getting ready, children already playing, our Hokage Uzumaki Naruto and our best med nin, Haruno Sakura, came through the gates with two bodies limp on their backs. _**

**_The first was Hyuuga Natsume, of the Hyuuga clan. His teammates and teacher had got him back, as I'm sure everyone knows. The second? None other than Uchiha Sasuke._**

**_Remember Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha clan. Seven years ago, when Hokage-sama and Sakura-san were 12, Uchiha Sasuke, they're beloved teammate, left to seek revenge. Going on countless retrieval missions, all failed until this very day._**

**_Hokage-sama says Hyuuga Natsume's punishment is five months on probation, locked chakra, and D-ranked missions for two months after said probation is over._**

**_For Uchiha Sasuke is a year on probation, two years of D-rank and C-rank missions, locked chakra, escorts, and a hug._**

**_Welcome back._**


End file.
